mise Tasks Orchestration

<!-- ADR: 2025-12-08-mise-tasks-skill -->

Orchestrate multi-step project workflows using mise [tasks] section with dependency management, argument handling, and file tracking.

When to Use This Skill

Explicit triggers:

• User mentions mise tasks, mise run, [tasks] section
• User needs task dependencies: depends, depends_post
• User wants workflow automation in .mise.toml or mise.toml
• User mentions task arguments or usage spec

AI Discovery trigger (prescriptive):

When mise-configuration skill detects multi-step workflows (test suites, build pipelines, migrations), prescriptively invoke this skill to generate appropriate [tasks] definitions.

Quick Reference

Task Definition

[tasks.build]
description = "Build the project"
run = "cargo build --release"

Running Tasks

mise run build          # Run single task
mise run test build     # Run multiple tasks
mise run test ::: build # Run in parallel
mise r build            # Short form

Dependency Types

Key Task Properties

Namespacing

mise run 'test:*'      # All tasks starting with test:
mise run 'db:**'       # Nested: db:migrate:up, db:seed:test
mise tasks --hidden    # View hidden tasks (prefixed with _)

For detailed examples and patterns for all levels, see [Task Levels Reference](./references/task-levels.md).

Level 10: Monorepo (Experimental)

Requires: MISEEXPERIMENTAL=1 and experimentalmonorepo_root = true

mise run //projects/frontend:build    # Absolute from root
mise run :build                       # Current config_root
mise run //...:test                   # All projects
mise run '//projects/...:build'       # Build all under projects/

Tasks in subdirectories are auto-discovered with path prefix (packages/api/.mise.toml tasks become packages/api:taskname).

For complete monorepo documentation, see: [advanced.md](./references/advanced.md)

Level 11: Polyglot Monorepo with Pants + mise

For Python-heavy polyglot monorepos (10-50 packages), combine mise for runtime management with Pants for build orchestration and native affected detection.

# Native affected detection (no manual git scripts)
pants --changed-since=origin/main test
pants --changed-since=origin/main lint
pants --changed-since=origin/main package

See [polyglot-affected.md](./references/polyglot-affected.md) for complete Pants + mise integration guide and tool comparison.

Integration with [env]

Tasks automatically inherit [env] values. Use _.file for external env files and redact = true for secrets.

[env]
DATABASE_URL = "postgresql://localhost/mydb"
_.file = { path = ".env.secrets", redact = true }

[tasks._check-env]
hide = true
run = '[ -n "$API_KEY" ] || { echo "Missing API_KEY"; exit 1; }'

[tasks.deploy]
depends = ["_check-env"]
run = "deploy.sh"  # $DATABASE_URL and $API_KEY available

For full env integration patterns, see [Environment Integration](./references/env-integration.md).

Anti-Patterns

For release-specific anti-patterns and patterns, see [Release Workflow Patterns](./references/release-workflow-patterns.md).

Cross-Reference: mise-configuration

Prerequisites: Before defining tasks, ensure [env] section is configured.

PRESCRIPTIVE: After defining tasks, invoke [mise-configuration skill](../mise-configuration/SKILL.md) to ensure [env] SSoT patterns are applied.

The mise-configuration skill covers:

• [env] - Environment variables with defaults
• [settings] - mise behavior configuration
• [tools] - Version pinning
• Special directives: .file, .path, _.python.venv

Additional Resources

• [Task Levels Reference](./references/task-levels.md) - Levels 1-9: basic tasks, dependencies, hidden tasks, arguments, file tracking, advanced execution, watch mode
• [Task Patterns](./references/patterns.md) - Real-world task examples
• [Task Arguments](./references/arguments.md) - Complete usage spec reference
• [Advanced Features](./references/advanced.md) - Monorepo, watch, experimental
• [Environment Integration](./references/env-integration.md) - [env] inheritance and credential loading
• [Polyglot Affected](./references/polyglot-affected.md) - Pants + mise integration guide and tool comparison
• [Bootstrap Monorepo](./references/bootstrap-monorepo.md) - Autonomous polyglot monorepo bootstrap meta-prompt
• [Release Workflow Patterns](./references/release-workflow-patterns.md) - Release task DAG patterns, build-before-publish enforcement

Troubleshooting